Back to Big Meadows and Beaver Creek

Yesterday, I went back to Big Meadows to see if the most productive spot for me was still good for catching some nice fish.  After two and a half hours, I only had one strike or bump on my lure -- most of the time, I spent cleaning off my lures when I fished the boulders half way around the lake and not a single strike there.  At least eight out of every ten casts there, I felt I was raking the weeds and algae mostly because the lake was about 18 inches below the level when I left six weeks ago.

Looking around the lake, I wondered how the mountainsides had not burned along with all the other thousands of acres from the recent fires which had been just on the other sides of these mountains.  They were so brown in color from the beetle kill.  The road past Big Meadows was still closed going up to Shaw lake and another lake.

I saw other people with fish on stringers but, they were small fish and most people appeared to be using bait of some sort.  I decided to head over to Beaver Creek reservoir on my way back to the campground to get a look at its water level and see if the fishing might be better there with lures.  When I rounded the last corner to the dam, there was a construction sign and the first pullout at the dam was blocked off with a construction trailer parked there and heavy equipment parked all around the spillway and one big steam shovel setting down in the spillway -- work finally being done so that the water level might again be able to rise one of these years.

The water level in the reservoir looked to be about the same as when I had left and above what it was last year at this time.  I didn't feel like wading the stream to the other side (sometime in the future, I'm sure) so, I drove back past the picnic area where many people were fishing the shore and rocks -- stopped at the pullout above the cliffs.  I climbed down and fished along the boulders below the cliffs and hoped to hook a Kokanee or a Brown -- caught 6 pretty little Rainbows and released them all.  They were all under 12 inches and had beautiful greenish to dark blue backs on them which accented the beautiful red stripes on their sides.

Tomorrow, I will probably head back there and climb down at the next pullout toward the dam -- first place I had caught Kokanee at last year (thought they were Lake trout then).  Weather allowing of course, and it's been raining here off and on all day long as I hope to cook two nice trout from Blue Mesa (should feed me for three dinners including a share with Tiger and Molly).  Raining again now and looks like more coming.

Back in South Fork

Arrived back here in South Fork on Friday afternoon and settled into the same spot I had been occupying before heading to Gunnison/Crested Butte for my niece's wedding.  By 1:30 p.m., me and the twins were resting and getting reacquainted with the familiar surroundings.  Gunnison is now a memory for us all but, the 6 weeks there were way less smokey than they would have been while the fires were still burning down here (thought I did detect a hint of smoke when I opened the bedroom windows after getting settled -- nothing since then).

The day before I drove back here, I fished for a couple hours at Blue Mesa -- same spot I had taken Rick and Kay down the boulders and to the muddy shores.  I caught six nice Rainbows and released them all -- two were about 13 inches, one was around 15 inches and three were about 17 inches.  I lost a big one in the murky shallow waters (it spit the lure) and another big one broke my line and took off with the lure (he looked to be around 20 inches and probably a Brown since he didn't do any jumping around and I saw his yellow side flash toward me before he took off).

Later that afternoon, I did some more last minute shopping and also stopped at that Antler Shop to snap a few pictures for Darvin (the shed hunter here at Grandview RV Park).  Quite an interesting place to walk around and see all the taxidermied specimens and other objects.

The Raccoon eating Cracker Jacks was the cutest and my daughter's favorite thing too.

East Portal of Black Canyon

Today I made the hour plus drive to the East Portal of the Black Canyon to see if the "Gold Medal" was deserved for that section of the Gunnison river.  The color of the water was more like split pea soup but, after just two casts I had a small Rainbow flying through the air and spitting out my lure with another of the same size doing the same thing after another two casts -- seemed promising.  This was just down from the parking lot so, I decided to head down the trail in hopes of something bigger.

I arrived at a pool that looked more promising and tried some casts with no luck and thought of moving farther downstream to the next pool but, saw the hat of another angler behind a large boulder just at the head of the pool.  With no strikes or keepers, I headed past the only other angler I had seen and asked him how he had been doing and he said he had caught 6 or 8 twelve or fourteen inchers -- I didn't ask to see them and continued downstream.  The trail ended at the pool with some cliffs blocking the way farther into the canyon without a boat or raft.

I began fishing with a rainbow colored Panther Martin instead of the heavier Kastmaster and wished I had applied some lemon juice to the treble hook as it looked pretty dark and dingy -- not shiny.  After about a dozen casts, I hooked this really nice Rainbow trout that had to be 22 or 24 inches and really, really hefty looking -- like a well protected species (which it is in this stream).  The fish jumped fairly high for its size and then disappeared into the water after breaking off one of the hooks of the treble hook.  I fished on with just the two hooks on the lure and soon caught a nice 17 inch Brown trout.  Soon thereafter, I caught and released three decent size Rainbows and then I hooked that big one again and again he spit out the lure.  A little later, I caught and released a baby Brown trout and then another keeper Brown of about 14 inches.

Too bad I had forgotten to bring my camera with me on the trail as the scene there was prettier than the picture above.   I headed back to the Jeep with the two Brown trout and had some lunch -- found the time to be around noon and decided to head upstream in the Jeep to get a look at the dam but, couldn't get there so, decided to head back to Gunnison since I saw storm clouds looming overhead.

On the way back, I decided to stop at the Morrow Point dam and fished the stream there as it looked so clear compared to the river at the portal.  Only made about half dozen casts with no strikes so I headed back again as more storm clouds began to show in the direction of Gunnison.  Two trout for the grille tomorrow night.

Blue Mesa Reservoir - With new Interest

After talking some last evening with my prospector neighbor Bob Barnes (behind me or to my left), I returned to that hotspot on Blue Mesa Reservoir with the idea that I might be able to catch a Kokanee salmon or two, if I was lucky.  I remembered reading somewhere that the Blue Mesa reservoir is the largest Kokanee fishery in the state and Bob confirmed that this is nearly the time of year that the salmon should start their run up the Gunnison to Roaring Judy fish hatchery -- hook jaws and all.  He had said too that they had caught some in late June and noted that some already were getting the hook jaw -- the four year olds.

Rather than take the morning off from fishing, I spent some four hours up there and released a couple nice ones (a 17 inch Rainbow and a 17 inch Brown).  Two other nice ones released themselves and saved me the trouble.  One other 18 or 20 incher took off with my last favorite Kastmaster as it danced into the western skies -- my knot apparently gave out as I got back an empty line with just the twisted end.  I had a rainbow colored Panther Martin on my backup rod so I started casting that in the same area and got one hit as soon as I started to retrieve the first cast.  Then on the next cast, something big hit the lure really hard after I had retrieved it only about halfway and bang, it disappeared with that lure -- left me the broken line right at the knot.

With no confidence at all, I tried a chrome or silver colored Kastmaster for the remainder of the morning but, got no hits at all -- about what I expected for that lure.  I have restocked those lures again and will most likely be back at it tomorrow morning.  The exercise is good too.

We had a good rain and me and the twins had a good nap this afternoon.  Time for a beer.

Fishing Report - Gunnison Update

No new pictures to add -- nothing bigger caught than on this past Tuesday or Wednesday though I have caught some nice ones.  On Thursday, I fished the hotspot on the Blue Mesa and caught a couple 13 or 14 inch Rainbows which I released.  Then, on the way back to the RV park, I fished the section of river accessed from the Beaver Creek pull-off via the underpass going below the road from the parking lot.  Caught two more Rainbows there and released them too -- lost one Kastmaster lure in the snags of the river and caught the two fish on a rainbow colored Panther Martin.

Yesterday, I returned to that hotspot again and after less than a dozen casts, caught a nice 17 or 18 inch Rainbow -- while two guys stumbled in the muddy shore on the other side.  After getting that nice fish on the stringer, I moved more to the right where I had a nice piece of stump next to a good branch in the muddy beach (where I tied up the stringer).  Another half dozen casts, and I had a nice Brown to match the Rainbow -- slightly longer this time.  Before I climbed back up to the Jeep by eleven o'clock, I caught and released three more 13 or 14 inch Rainbows -- had to keep one smaller one that didn't seem to be strong enough to survive.  Plenty of fish for the next three days with a couple burgers thrown in for lunches (just finished one of the burgers).

This morning, I thought of just staying here in the RV but, what fun is that?  So, I headed back up to that favorite spot on Blue Mesa to get my exercise and have some more fun catching and releasing.  I would have kept anything bigger than the ones caught on Tuesday or Wednesday but, instead I ended up releasing a 17 inch Rainbow, a 17 inch Brown and two other small Rainbows.  What fun when you can see half a dozen just hitting the surface right in front of you and then getting them to hit that lure -- Kastmaster.  Yesterday, it was the rainbow colored and today the old faithful.

Today's Catch - Same Spot

Another couple hours of fishing this morning at the same spot on Blue Mesa Reservoir yielded these three beauties -- even released two others smaller than the smallest (15 inches).  I caught the first big Rainbow after just a dozen casts and after another half dozen casts had the really nice Brown hooked and onto the stringer.  I released two smaller Rainbows before catching the 15 inch one and had a number of other hits too.  I climbed back up to the Jeep by eleven o'clock and headed for the fish cleaning station a few miles down the road.  I would have fished longer for that fourth nice keeper but, a cloud of scum and goose poop came blowing toward the shore and my stringer of fish.

I met the same couple that had been at the fish cleaning station yesterday -- they only had two Kokanee today and said there were hundreds of boats out on the lake today (tough day they said).  Yesterday they had over a dozen and filled three freezer bags with Salmon.

Guess I will be hitting that same spot again tomorrow morning -- see if the water level drops another foot or more (making it easier to catch those beauties).

Company's Gone - Back to Fishing

Well, it was really, really nice to have company but, there is a certain amount of work involved when entertaining folks -- and that kinda wore me out a bit.  My daughter Laura was such a delight to see after more than 8 months but, she headed back to Virginia on June 25th -- gave me a day to relocate to my new spot by the creek and a few days to get ready for cousin Dave's visit.

Now that Dave is back in Phoenix and dealing with 100 degree plus heat, I can focus more time on finding those big trout.  Am sure Dave is wishing he was still here and catching some too while enjoying the cooler temps.  I rested this past Saturday after seeing him off with the first daylight and getting us some breakfast prepared before that.  Sunday, I went back to our favorite spot on the Gunnison river and caught one nice keeper Brown trout.  Yesterday morning, I headed back to the Blue Mesa Reservoir and the same spot I had taken my cousin to -- down the steep bank and onto the boulders.  Same spot I dang near wore my cousin out on our first day of fishing.

After about a half hour of fishing with not a single hit or strike, a big fish hit my lure and doubled my pole over as it ran left, then right, staying deep and out of sight.  Then, it broke my line and took my last Kastmaster lure too.  I tried all of my Panther Martin lures after that but, had only a couple "bumps" (it seemed).  I left by 11:30 and headed for the Walmart to restock on those lures.

This morning, I headed back to that same spot on Blue Mesa armed with more Kastmaster lures and a new backup reel on my second pole -- arrived a little later this morning since I had to stop at the Post Office and then the Wells Fargo Bank in town.  After about a half hour of casting, I finally got a hit and a nice Rainbow on the line (maybe about 14 inches) but, he did his two-step "Dance for Life" in front of me and only left me some of his lip on one of the treble hooks of the lure.  Feeling disappointed and not get any more hits for awhile, I headed back across the boulders and stopped at the sandy/muddy shore of the lake and soon had another nice Rainbow on that I managed to land and get on my stringer.  This one was about 15 inches.  I moved farther to my right and stood on a sunken stump and managed to hook another, smaller Rainbow but, had to step into the muck to grab it at the water's edge -- sank up to my ankles but, I thought it was worth it.

After moving farther right and casting maybe another half dozen times, I again hooked another bigger trout (like yesterday's lost fish).  This time, I backed off on the drag and ran up and down the beach a few times as it fought and made numerous runs to deeper water -- I silently prayed that it would stay on so I could at least see it this time.  It jumped a couple times but, I managed to land it, said my thanks and decided to head for the fish cleaning station -- content with the morning's catch.  WOW!  How nice are these?

Start the grille and get out those cold beers.  There's fish for dinner tonight.

Cousin Dave's Visit - Gunnison, Colorado

Saturday morning on Blue Mesa

Leaving the 120 heat behind in Phoenix and toughing it through a more than ten hour drive, my cousin Dave and "Sam Adams" arrived Saturday evening -- June 29th.  Originally, the plan was for him to come up to South Fork but, the forest fires had caused the town to be evacuated for a week and I had decided to book another month here after my niece's wedding in Crested Butte on June 22nd.  I had some trout thawed and ready to grille that evening and we had a few of his chilled Sam Adams while we caught up on the latest news and happenings.

The next day, we headed up to Blue Mesa Reservoir and parked on the other end of the route 149 bridge and hiked down to the edge of the Gunnison river where we fished but, had no luck there.  So, we then headed back over the bridge and just a short distance up route 50 to the first pullout where we again hiked/climbed down to the water's edge to fish some more.  Damn near wore my poor cousin out on his first full day here (before he could even get acclimated too).  I think I caught one or two keepers on my favorite Kastmaster lure and gave Dave one to put on his line but, he didn't have the luck that day.  During his visit, we seemed to alternate between him catching keepers one day and me catching them the next day.

Valley at Crested Butte

Monday, the 1st of July, we headed up the road to Crested Butte and stopped at the Roaring Judy Fish Hatchery ponds where we had high hopes of catching our limits (my neighbors had done so with their little kids).  Well, our luck did not go as hoped and Dave was the only one to catch any fish -- me, nothing.  We did make it up to Crested Butte and had lunch there at the same restaurant I had visited with my brother, my sister-in-law and my daughter.  We stoppedat the ponds again on the way back to Gunnison and fished the pond that the state record Brown trout had been caught at in 1988 (30 pounds 8 ounces).  We didn't catch anything this time.

Mt. Crested Butte and Dave

The wildflowers were still in bloom when we stopped on Gothic Road in Crested Butte and the beautiful valleys were still as beautiful as when I first saw them.

On Tuesday, the 2nd, we fished the Gunnison river just up the road from the campground and that was my day for catching some keepers -- two nice ones and lost another.  Dave caught some small ones and released them.  That might have been the day too that Dave's reel decided to break -- more frustration to a bad day of fishing (at least it wasn't as hot as it was in Phoenix).

Lake San Cristobal

Wednesday, July 3rd, I drove us up to Lake City, to try our luck at Lake San Cristobal -- another beautiful lake about an hour from here.  It is supposed to be the second largest lake in Colorado and the view from an overlook on Slumgullion Pass is fantastic.  Our fishing did not go so well again and Dave seemed to have the luck that day but, no keepers to bring back for the grille.  Still a nice place to picnic though and enjoy the cool air and beautiful surroundings.  Stopped at that little grocery store in Lake City and  picked up some Elk burgers to cook with our fish that evening.

Thursday, July 4th, we fished the nearby river again and this time Dave caught a couple of his nicest fish and got them in the freezer to take back to Phoenix with him.  We relaxed during the afternoon and chilled out by the RV and stream listening to old tunes until sunset.





Friday's catch.

On Friday, July 5th, we fished our favorite stretch of the Gunnison river until about noon (when most of the floaters and rafters started streaming through in front of us) -- my day to catch two nice ones and lost a third.   This time Dave caught a nice fish too in the same day (A first for us).  We then headed up to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison where Dave could see what neither of us had seen as kids growing up in Colorado.  We didn't attempt any of the lengthy hikes but, still had lots of good looks into the canyon and lots of pictures from the overlooks.

Tallest cliff in Colorado

Laura's Visit - Gunnison, Colorado

After getting moved over here to Mesa RV Park on June 17th (just a few miles west of Gunnison), I got myself and the twins settled in just a couple spots from a nice little creek with a concrete patio and grass mostly around the rest of the site -- a real paradise compared to some of the dirt and gravel sites we have been.  The next day (Tuesday), I fished a spot on the Blue Mesa Reservoir and caught a few nice trout which I released since I was not certain of the regulations for the lake -- had plenty of nice fish in the freezer too from South Fork.

Wednesday, the 25th, Laura flew into the local airport in Gunnison and I picked her up there after a short delay while they got the baggage unloaded from the small jet.  A whole week with my daughter staying with me was a special Father's Day treat for me.  So nice to see her again for the first time since last fall in Virginia.  The occasion for the visit was, of course, her cousin Mary Beth's wedding in Crested Butte on June 22nd -- a doubly joyous occasion for me however.

We wasted no time it seemed as we headed to Crested Butte, Lake City, The Black Canyon of the Gunnison River and anywhere else we could go for a hike or a lunch or just sightseeing -- including a little time walking around the town of Gunnison.



 

We did a hike with Rick and Kay near the town of Crested Butte and had a nice lunch in town afterwards at the Last Steep -- think that was Friday.  Lots of beautiful wildflowers all around us as we hiked -- including plenty of Columbines (the state flower).

Sunday, after the goodbye brunch, we headed up Gothic Road for Gothic and stopped there briefly before heading on to Emerald Lake where we bumped into Laura's cousin Billy (my nephew, of course).  They had some fun on the snow drifts while I again tried some fishing in the lake -- no luck again.



Judd Falls

After that, Laura and I stopped on the way back to hike out to Judd Falls -- a half mile hike supposedly that turned out to be 3/4 mile each way but, worth the stop and the additional hike.


Everywhere, the beautiful flowers and always the need to drink some water.

The next day, we headed to Lake City and the overlook at Slumgullion Pass.  We had hoped to take the 4-wheel road to Carson where we wanted to try the mile hike to the top of a 13,000 foot peak -- thereby creating another father/daughter memorable moment like Macchu Picchu.  However, the clearance on my Jeep didn't look to be adequate so, we headed back to the lake for a picnic after an alternate drive up a portion of the Alpine Loop.

On the way back through Lake City we stopped for a short walk around the town and then headed back to the RV park to meet Rick and Kay for dinner -- luckily we found some Elk in a store at the edge of town and added that to the big fish I thawed for grilling (too bad I overcooked the Elk -- shame on me).

A nice evening meal with family and the next day had to say goodbye to Laura and get her back to the airport.  Nice visit over too soon.

Ali and MB Get Hitched

Crested Butte, Colorado is a beautiful little mountain town and a beautiful site to have a wedding -- which my niece and her partner selected for their special event.  The precise location for the ceremony was the Gunsight Pass bridge just a few miles from the town.  The festivities started (for some of us) Friday evening at the museum in town where family members gathered to dine and have a few drinks together and enjoy a wonderful slide show presentation of the couples growing up years and some of their recent times together over the past half dozen years.

First time I have been in a museum since I retired and quit working in the exhibit field -- way more fun that evening than any other events I have experienced in the museum business.  Too bad me and my daughter weren't in close walking distance to the RV so that we could have stayed longer to enjoy the festive gathering (and more of those yummy deserts).

The next day, Laura and I headed up in the afternoon to Crested Butte from the RV park just outside the town of Gunnison.  We caught one of the wedding shuttle buses with most of the Burches to Gunsight Pass bridge and arrived at the awesome site on the Slate river.  Mary Beth's mom and dad were decked out western style as requested by the bride.  The ceremony was as beautiful as the surroundings and the joy of the occasion became the dominant feeling among all the family and friends gathered there -- the songs and merriment brought warmth and love to the valley (and an occasional biker or stray dog too).  Soon after the songs and beautiful words were spoken by friends, the couple exchanged their vows and began their walk up the nearby hillside and together for the rest of their lives.

 



 

 

 

Ali and Mary Beth - Just Hitched

The Burch Clan - Sunday Brunch